Our Community

In Conversation.

group of students

group of students

"I've found that being willing to try new things, even if they involve risk, has made a big difference in my work."

Angel Padilla, MPA '13

Joshua Coan '24

#PolicyProfile: Joshua Coan ’24

I took a gap year after high school and had the chance to play semi-pro volleyball in the Netherlands for a few months. Volleyball is a big part of…

Kelley T. Jones Ph.D. Candidate

#PolicyProfile: Kelley T. Jones Ph.D. Candidate

"I’m active-duty military, and I’ve been in the @USNavy for more than 20 years. By trade, I’m known as a ship driver, which is a Surface Warfare…

Adam Sigelman MPP ’23

#PolicyProfile: Adam Sigelman MPP ’23

“When I first graduated from college, I was a consultant in the private sector for a few years. I enjoyed the work and thought it was interesting…

#PolicyProfile: Samuel Lyman MPP ’23

“I grew up watching ‘The West Wing,’ where Rob Lowe plays a White House speechwriter named Sam Seaborn. His character is what first piqued my…

Nicholas Lim before a Princeton swim meet.

#PolicyProfile: Nicholas Lim ’24

“I’m originally from Hong Kong, and that’s where I was during the COVID-19 pandemic. I became really interested in the social dynamics of the…

Joe Shipley

#PolicyProfile: Joe Shipley MPA ’26

“Both of my parents are journalists, and I learned a lot from the way that they tried to put truth and objectivity ahead of their own personal…

Brent Efron pictured outside of SPIA.

#PolicyProfile: Brent Efron MPA ’24

“I grew up in a reform Jewish community outside of Boston, and one thing we learned from a very young age in reform Hebrew school is something called…

#PolicyProfile: Bryson Rose MPP ’23

"In 2017, I went to Haiti and witnessed significant infrastructure challenges from the earthquake and from hurricanes. They're already a country that…

Noah Bardash pictured on political campaign.

#PolicyProfile: Noah Bardash MPA ’24

"In the aftermath of the 2016 election, I took a hard look at what I was doing with my time and where I saw my best avenues for making change. I…

Christian Pollard

#PolicyProfile: Christian Pollard ’23

“I grew up in rural Alabama on a cattle ranch in a town of, at the time, 409 people. Living in a rural area, it's virtually impossible to access…

Uma Menon standing behind a SPIA banner.

#PolicyProfile: Uma Menon ’24

“My first book, “Hands for Language,” was about my experience as a daughter of immigrants growing up in America and my identity as a woman of color…

#PolicyProfile: Austin Edwards MPP ’23

“My parents instilled in me the value of giving back to the community, not just in our home but also through our church. I was born in Trenton and…

Billy Doyle

#PolicyProfile: Billy Doyle ’24

“My foundational years were during a time when Brexit was the presiding issue of everything in the UK. This issue dominated the news throughout those…

Anna Blue MPA '24

#PolicyProfile: Anna Blue MPA ’24

“Going to school in Silicon Valley, I was constantly exposed to themes about democracy and technology. I always planned on going into the federal…

Helene Wood, Faculty Assistant

#PolicyProfile: Helene Wood, Faculty Assistant

“When I was four, my family moved from our home in the San Francisco Bay area to Switzerland for my dad’s job. We traveled around Europe, and my…